Coverage: Ed Moses: Chance and Circumstance at William Turner Gallery

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Ed Moses is one of the original “Cool School” artists who has helped shape the West Coast art scene since 1958.  The opening on Saturday March 25th at William Turner Gallery, was a celebratory event, filled with artists, friends, collectors and fans, just days before his 91st birthday.  Moses’ work is vibrant, strong, prolific and exploratory.  Metaphysics and meditation, chance and circumstance are part of his tool chest, to get to the wide open space he paints from.

“The rational mind constantly wants to be in charge. The other parts want to fly. My painting is the encounter between the mind’s necessity for control and its yearning to fly, to be free from our ever-confining skull.” – Ed Moses

The canvases were large and were not hung traditionally. During the show, Moses continued curating his works, which was wonderful to watch, in its way, an impromptu performance art piece.  There were works propped against the wall throughout, some in vignettes, others punctuating hanging paintings.  One large and incredibly vibrant piece was placed side-ways, visually, the last painting of the show, pointing you to the door.  Ed Moses is always thinking out of the box.

From the Press Release by Lyn Winter:
The phrase “chance and circumstance” has become something of a mantra for Moses. A student of Buddhism, he has made a career of fearlessly blazing down the path of the unknown. A practice of daily meditation keeps Moses anchored in the present, a lifestyle choice and sensibility, which is evident in his paintings. Driven by the metaphysical power of painting and its potential to transform, Moses bypasses the need to be in control and favors the idea of being in tune with the pieces he is coaxing into existence. Moses has stated, “My paintings are on an endless path” – each work leads to another in a sort of perpetual evolution. Art historian Barbara Haskell has remarked of Moses that this relinquishing of control “allows him to step outside himself, letting his materials direct his hand without conscious interferences.”

Exhibition:
Ed Moses: Chance and Circumstance
March 25 to May 27,2017

Address:
William Turner Gallery
2525 Michigan Avenue, Gallery E-1
Santa Monica, California 90404

All Images, Andrea LaHue

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Artist Ed Moses, Center

 

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